The season three premiere of Terence Winter's Prohibition-era New Jersey drama was watched by 2.9 million viewers during its inaugural 9 p.m. broadcast. The sophomore season opened to the same numbers.

HBO aired the episode twice more, with a hole at 10 p.m. until Treme returns next week, pulling 4.6 million viewers across all three. It's a tough month to launch the series, with Sunday Night Football returning just last week and the Emmys airing on ABC this Sunday.

The haul is also a little shy of its recent finale. The December outing of Boardwalk Empire, which saw the surprise departure of Michael Pitt's character, was watched by 3 million viewers.

Boardwalk Empire still holds HBO's record for top drama premiere since 2008. Its first episode brought in a yet-to-be-matched 4.8 million viewers.